Call It A Day

Coronavirus Updates

• New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced the state’s beaches and lakes would be reopening on May 22, though some restrictions remain in place.
• The European Commission suspended the future delivery of 10 million Chinese face masks to the EU and Britain after two member countries complained of their poor quality.
• Japan lifted states of emergency - which began in April - in 39 of its 47 prefectures, with Tokyo and Osaka among the exceptions.
• Italy announced a ~$60 billion stimulus package late Wednesday, following an initial $27 billion package passed in March.
• Government immunologist Dr. Rick Bright testified in a House hearing on Thursday. Dr. Bright previously filed a whistleblower complaint after being removed from his position as a director within the HHS. (Left Center - USA Today | Right Center - Forbes)

Sen. Burr Steps Down As Chairman

Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) stepped down from his position as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday. The move comes after FBI agents seized Burr’s phone while executing a search warrant at his home on Wednesday night.

More: Burr is the subject of an FBI investigation into alleged insider trading after it was discovered he sold between $628K and $1.7 million in stock prior to the coronavirus-induced market downturn (Roll Call estimated Burr’s net worth was $1.7 million in 2018).

Wildfires Erupt In Southwest Florida

Over 5,000 acres in southwest Florida have been burned after wildfires started Wednesday afternoon and continued through Thursday. The brush fires - 10% contained as of Thursday afternoon - forced mandatory evacuations and temporarily shut down a 21-mile stretch of Interstate 75.

More: Fires spanning over 2,500 acres broke out in the Florida Panhandle last week after a prescribed burn by a private contractor took a wrong turn.

The Coronavirus Effect

• McDonald’s released reopening guidelines asking restaurant owners to implement dozens of changes, such as cleaning bathrooms every half-hour - here’s the complete list.
• Three million more Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, bringing the total over the past eight weeks up to ~36.5 million.
• FedEx has limited the number of items that roughly two dozen retailers - including Kohl’s, Nordstroms, and Bed Bath & Beyond - are allowed to ship from specific locations, according to the WSJ.
• Delta announced the retirement of its fleet of Boeing 777s and said it might be overstaffed by 7,000 pilots (half the company’s workforce) in the fall.
• OpenTable, an online restaurant-reservation service, predicted that one in four U.S. restaurants would go out of business due to closures enforced by stay-at-home orders.

France At A Glance

France’s National Assembly passed a law mandating online platforms to delete hate speech content within 24 hours of notification or face fines for each infraction. Under the terms of the law - which takes effect July 1 - platforms must react within one hour for the most extreme categories of illicit content. 

More: Germany in July 2019 issued a more than $2.1 million fine to Facebook under a similar law that had been implemented the year before.

Under The Sea

An $800+ million project to build a ~23,000 mile-long undersea cable around Africa received approval to move forward. The goal of the project - which is sponsored by Facebook, China Mobile, Vodafone, MTN, Orange, and others - is to provide the entire continent with better internet access.

More: Alphabet subsidiary Loon - which uses high-altitude balloons to provide internet coverage - signed a deal yesterday with South African telecommunications company Vodafone to expand their mobile network to Mozambique.

Walk This Way

Ernie Martel (85 years old), Harold Gosseen (99), and Don Varney (78) are Navy veterans and residents of Tiffany Springs Senior Living, near Kansas City, MO. The trio caught wind of a local nonprofit that was struggling to raise funds and decided to come up with a plan to save the day.

Known as the “Three Musketeers,” Ernie, Harold, and Don each pledged to walk one mile per day in exchange for community donations. In less than a week, the trio raised over $400 - and are showing no signs of slowing down.

Up And Running

Although he last taught an in-school class on March 16, Bill McAllister - a faculty member at Big Shanty Intermediate School in Georgia - has been able to offer face-to-face words of encouragement to each of his students almost every single day.

An avid jogger, Bill mapped out a route and started running six to eight miles per day to visit each of his students in person. For those who aren’t home when he stops by, Bill leaves a handwritten note in the mailbox.

The Masked Mayor

Earlier this week, Mayor Paul Brodeur of Melrose, MA acquired enough face masks to supply the entire city. There was only one problem: he had no way to distribute the tens of thousands of masks to each individual resident.

Mayor Paul made a plea for help, and dozens of local volunteers answered the call. By Tuesday, each of the city’s 28,000 residents had received a paper bag with 4-5 masks, along with a pamphlet listing available mental health resources.

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